Process for treating proteinaceous fibers



Nov. 20, 1951 L, w, RAINARD 2,575,837

PROCESS FOR TREATING PROTEINACEOUS FIBERS saddle 35 is formed with ears40 which are at-l tached to the frame I Il by boltsi4I and with aplurality of radial passages 42 for the injection of a setting agentinto the crimping, chamber. The radial passages 42 communicate with anannular passage 43 in the saddle 35 which isclosed by a collar 44 toform an inlet manifold. The fluid is supplied to the annular passage 43by a pipe 45 registering with a port 46 in said collar.

At its lower end the tube 33 carries a flanged extension I) to which apair'of brackets 5I are attached. A pair of doors 52 are hinged to thebracketsv 5I by hinges 53 and are held closed against the tapered end 54of the extension 50 by weights 55 attached to arms 56 secured to thedoors.

In the operation of the crimper, the rolls I I and I2 are driven by anysuitable source of power and the fibers to, be crimped are fed thereto,preferably in the form of a rope or a web. The fibers are held in thcrimping and setting chambers by the doors until they have been packedsufficiently to force the doors slightly open against the force of theweights 55. The back pressure of the packed fibers causes the fibersbeing forced against the packed bers b v the feed rolls to be foldedover in zig-zag crimps, the spacing of which depends upon the nature ofthe fibers and the back pressure. y

A setting agent, such yas steam, is introduced through the pipe 45 andpassages 42 Ainto the mass of packed fibers. Of course the area of in-4jection may be varied. but should be suiiiciently chemicals'to aid inproducing a permanent set. For example such setting agents astliloglycolic acid and its salts, such as calcium or sodiumthioglycolate, formaldehyde, a sulfoxylate formaldehyde such as zinc orsodium, and the like, may be used. At a temperature of 212 F. themaximum concentration of these agents before serious degradation occursis as follows: y Per cent weight of the wool 'I'hioglycolic acid 3 Zincsulfoxylate formaldehyde e 5 Formaldehyde does not degrade the fibersand may be used-in commercially available concentrations.

For higher temperatures, steam under pressure may be used. The qualityof steam should be selected to cause the fibers to reach the desiredtemperature and moisture content. Due to the packing of the mass offibers, they are relatively impermeable to steam and steam pressuressuited to produce the desired high temperatures may be used.

The fibers may enter the crimper at a pH of 4.0

- to 9.0. Steam may be injected under conditions to spaced below the topof the saddle so thatl the mass of fibers forms a seal. The pressure ofthe steam and the tapered setting chamber help to overcome or reduce thefriction ofthe fibers against the walls and facilitate their passagethrough the setting chamber.

In the present process, lthe raw wool is first opened, scoured. forexample with soap and soda ash in several stages, then washed and driedin the usual manner to form stock wool. The scouring and washing may becarried out under conditions to leave the stock wool with the desired pHfor crimping. This stock wool is fed directly at a` uniform rate to thefeed rolls II and I2 of the crimper through a suitable hopper or maybefed to a web-forming device such as a card and fed as a web orcondensed into a rope which is fed to the feed rolls ,II and I2 as asliver or slubbing. If a more uniform feed is required,

' the stock wool may be picked and carded and condensed to a rope forthe above purpose after one o'r more stages of carding. A uniformity indensity of feed stock is preferred to prevent jamming or slipping at thefeed rolls or undue lateral movement of the feed rolls.

In either case, the fibers are stuffed by the feed rolls II and I2 intothe crimping chamber and through 1the setting chamber and are forced`out of the bottom of the setting chamber against theA pressure exertedby the discharge doors 52.

The back pressure at the entrance of the crimping chamber controls thesize of the crimp, a higher pressure causing a finer crimp (more crimpsper inch)I and vice versa.

For equilibrium conditions of moisture content and pH, the settingA timevaries inversely with lthe temperature. For temperatures below 212 F.,hot water may be injectedinto the crimping and setting chambers and maycontain added raise the temperature of the fibers to between 212 F. and300 F. and produce a moisture content in the fibers leaving the settingchamber of 20% to 55%. A higher moisture content is not detrimental andmay be desirable in certain instances. With a pH of 8.0 to 9.0 a.setting time of to 70 seconds at 240 F. to 250 F. is sufficient toproduce a set that will resist boiling for three minutes in water, or aminute dyeing cycle with little loss in crimp as evidenced by frequencyand amplitude determinations. With a pH of 4.0 to 4.5 at the sametemperature, a setting time of seconds to seconds is required to producethe same resistance to loss of set. In general the setting time variesinversely with the pH, the other conditions being the sam/e.

The crimped fibers emerge from the crimper in the form of a verycondensed tow or rope, which is easily opened and separated. It may thenbe carded, formed into a roving and spun in the usual manner.

- The fiber thus crimped is characterized by sharp angular bends orcrimps Which may or may not be uniformly spaced, but are separated byrelatively straight lengths of ber. It may be spun into yarn and skeindyed or may be picked and stocked dyed in the usual manner.

The artificially crimped yarn above described may be used for pile andWoven into pile fabrics such as Axminster rugs. It has been found thatpile made of this yarn has a greater covering power than unorimped ornaturally crimped wool,

gripping said fibers between closely spaced conf veyor surfacesdischarging into a substantially closed zone, and forcing the grippedfibers into said zone against the pressure of a mass of fibers heldcompacted under pressure in said zone, said compacted with said settingagent under conditions to produce a permanent set of said crimp in saidfibers, and withdrawing lthe crimped bers from said zone.

2. 'I'he method set forth in claim 1 in which the setting agent issteam.

3. The method set forth in claim 1 in which the setting agent is amember selected from the group consisting of thioglycolc acid,arthioglycolate, formaldehyde, and a sulfoxylate formaldehyde.

4. The method set forth in claim v1 in which the fibers are maintainedin said zone at a temperature of 212 F. to 300 F. and with a moisturecontent above 20 at the discharge point.

5. The method set forth in claim 4 in which the setting agent is steam.l

6. An articially crimped proteinaceous fiber 6 having crimps separatedby relatively straight Vfiber lengths and obtained as a product of theprocess defined in claim 1. Y

LEO W. RAINARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,186,229 Ray June 6, 19161,353,337 Gordon Sept. 21, 1920 1,719,899 Mudd July 9, 1929 2,043,586Kronheim June 9, 1936 2,139,543 Finlayson et al. Dec. 6, 1938 2,300,791Lodge Nov. 3, 1942 2,321,757 Lodge June 15, 1943 2,390,572 De BrabanderDec. 11, 1945 2,394,165 Getaz Feb. 5, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 338,269 Germany June 30, 1921

1. THE METHOD OF IMPARTING A PERMANENT ARTIFICIAL CRIMP TO TEXTILEFIBERS, WHICH COMPRISES GRIPPING SAID FIBERS BETWEEN CLOSELY SPACEDCONVEYOR SURFACES DISCHARGING INTO A SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSED ZONE, ANDFORCING THE GRIPPING FIBERS INTO SAID ZONE AGAINST THE PRESSURE OF AMASS OF FIBERS HELD COMPACTED UNDER PRESSURE IN SAID ZONE, SAID PRESSUREBEING ADAPTED TO CAUSE THE FIBERS TO BE PROGRESSIVELY FOLDED OVER ANDCRIMPED AS THEY ARE DELIVERED FROM SAID CONVEYOR SURFACES, HOLDING THEMASS OF CRIMPED FIBERS COMPACTED UNDER A SUB-